We read their words literally… and believe that they mean precisely what they say.

As for the Sony BMG debacle, we hope to shed more light this afternoon.

The BEUC comments, though, boil down to what I’d said in the first comment: if you buy it, it’s yours, not “licensed” from Media Inc. I should be able to enjoy the music on my various hardware without the presumption of infringement. Embedding spyware, rootkits, etc. and generally fscking up my system on the chance I might put their precious music out on eDonkey isn’t acceptable. Go after the infringers with everything, yes. Don’t cripple *my* CDs assuming I’m one of them. Points to the CA & NY AG’s for threatening Sony with lawsuits.

Those who read Email Battles regularly are well versed in our iconoclastic views. For those who don’t know us, a quick clue: Check the headline sidebars. Internally, we refer to them as “headline haiku”… editorial comment in one line.

We will defend to the death your right (and ours) to rip, bend, shake, stir, give away, or even sell anything you own.

In addition, you have the right to buy products with the full expectation that the manufacturer isn’t embedding them with nasties.

The article covers a consumer group’s official statement that appears to us to condone wide distribution without payment of materials that cost others millions to create. Whether BEUC is right or wrong is somewhat academic to network managers. They still have to deal with the foo. Many consumers have already jumped on this bandwagon; thus, network managers are finding themselves hamstrung between the need to maintain network integrity while avoiding unhappy users and noxious lawsuits.

how can you steal a product that doesn’t exist? a computer file is not a physical product.

For many network managers… especially those in government and business… concerns include illegal transfer of copyrighted material, like Star Wars movies, and the resulting excessive bandwidth consumption. (Yes, they often do go together.)

We’re all for legal data exchange on those networks that agree to it. But our position appears to directly conflict with the BEUC’s whenever, whatever concept.

If you care to bring yourself up to date on all sides of the subject, please don’t hesitate to click the links.

Idiot - traffic control is logically precipitated by bandwidth concerns, not by the rights of users. The course of action advised by the article is repressive - complain and you’ll be punished. ISPs with such attitudes will find their only bandwidth increase coming in the form of large numbers of their customers switching to other providers.

Where does this writer live, Myanmar?